


not so fated

by TechnicalTragedy (orphan_account)



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 15:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/TechnicalTragedy
Summary: they’re soulmates. or something like that.





	not so fated

**Author's Note:**

> this is a weird au and it’s not my best work but whatever. i haven’t been writing fic cause of work but i’m gonna try to get back into it!

Junhoe has never been good at the whole ‘being upfront and honest about his emotions’ thing. In a way, he wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s just that he also exclusively wear tank tops. He’s kind of an asshole.

When he meets his other half, he does what any sensible person would do.

Junhoe picks a fight.

A short brawl, an awkward apology, and several rounds of shots later, Junhoe and the love of his life (“Call me Bobby,” he’d said, grinning with those crooked teeth Junhoe won’t admit he’s into) are buddies.

They stumble to Hanbin’s apartment together, delighted to discover that he’s a mutual friend, and fall asleep spooning on the pullout couch.

Hanbin takes pictures for blackmail purposes, but Bobby just gets them printed on fancy photo paper and hangs them in pretty frames in his living room. When people ask about it he announces proudly that that was the night he met his better half, his best friend, and mild obsession, Junhoe. And he laughs when people assume he and Junhoe are romantically involved.

They aren’t together, but they’re soulmates. Or something like it.

\- - -

“Look, I might be dumb as fuck,” Junhoe says, “but even I know that a whale is not a fish.”

Both Bobby and Hanbin are looking at him like he’s speaking Portuguese.

“Then why do they live in the ocean?” Hanbin asks.

Junhoe scowls. None of them are drunk enough for this. “I don’t know, they just do! They, like, keep the air inside them when they go deep in the water, I think. Google it or something. I’m not a whale scientist.”

“Cetologist,” Bobby corrects.

Junhoe blinks at him. “How the fuck do you know what a whale scientist is called, but not know that whales are mammals?” 

Bobby just grins, dopey and unashamed and infuriatingly endearing.

It’s just like him, to have a cobbled-together knowledge of something, placing the pieces but never connecting them. Junhoe almost envies how Bobby can just let things go without worrying about them, sure that he’ll learn whatever he needs to know in time. Junhoe isn’t exactly a worrier, himself, but even he can look uptight next to Bobby’s laidback self.

It’s one of the many reasons Junhoe loves Bobby. But he doesn’t like to give sappy shit like that any room to breathe.

“Why are we all so goddamn dumb,” Junhoe says with a sigh, and flings himself across Bobby’s lap.

Bobby grunts in surprise, but just shifts to get more comfortable.

Hanbin rolls his eyes and shoves his glasses on, unwilling to put his contacts in again. “Are you two staying over tonight?” He laughs, ”Look at me, asking. Like you don’t sleep here half the time, anyway.”

Junhoe doesn’t reply. He closes his eyes and lets Bobby handle it.

He drifts off at some point, not even pretending to be listening to Hanbin and Bobby as they talk about whatever they hell it is they can spend hours going over. Junhoe doesn’t really dream, but he swears that he’s thinking of Bobby the whole time he’s asleep.

Bobby wakes him accidentally.

His narrow eyes widen in the half light, and he runs a gentle hand over Junhoe’s forehead. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Junhoe mumbles something without meaning as he levers himself back into a sitting position.

“Kind of glad, though, because my legs are asleep,” Bobby continues.

“Shoulda woke me up sooner,” Junhoe says.

Bobby moves his legs, trying to work the feeling back into them. “You looked peaceful. Didn’t wanna disturb you.”

Junhoe looks over at Bobby, about to make fun of him for being a sap. But Bobby is looking right back at him, some unknown expression on his face. They stare at each other for a moment that Junhoe would swear lasts an eternity.

“Thanks,” Junhoe says, when it gets to be too much for him.

Bobby nods. “Get the couch ready?”

Junhoe brushes away the weird feeling in his guts and sets about helping Bobby pull out the bed and get it prepared for them.

\- - -

Sometimes Junhoe wishes he had ‘Kim Jiwon’ written on his forearm, something to fill the soulmate-shaped hole in his heart.

He wishes they had something permanent, something to mark them forever as belonging to each other. It’s cheesy, sure, but Junhoe has always felt the sting of knowing he’s alone in the world, and only Bobby has ever made him feel any different.

And if Bobby isn’t his perfect match, nobody else could ever hope to come close.

\- - -

“That shit’s gonna kill you, man,” Junhoe says because it’s something he’s been holding in for a while.

Bobby takes a deep drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke in Junhoe’s direction just to be a dick. “Be careful, June. Keep talking like that and I might start thinking you care or something.”

Junhoe flips Bobby off. “You’re an asshole.”

Bobby grins cheekily. “There’s the June I know. Had me worried for a second.”

“I mean it,” Junhoe insists. He catches Bobby’s wrist as he raises the cigarette to his lips again. “You’re gonna get cancer or, like, heart disease or some shit.”

“Why do you even care?” Bobby asks. He doesn’t move away from Junhoe’s touch. He’s genuinely curious.

“I just,” Junhoe says quickly, eyes darting off sideways so he doesn’t have to meet Bobby’s gaze. “I just want you to live a long time, okay? And don’t give me that shit about lifespans or whatever. You’ve gotta live at least as long as I do, and I plan on living until I’m an old fuck who can’t piss on my own anymore. I care, man. I care way more than I fucking should.”

Bobby studies Junhoe’s profile, taking note of the color high on his cheeks, his tongue laving over his lower lip, his throat bobbing over a swallow.

“Okay,” Bobby says.

Junhoe dares to meet his eyes again. “Okay?”

Bobby shrugs. “I’ll quit.” He reclaims his arm, drops his cigarette and extinguishes it under his shoe.

“That easy?” Junhoe asks, suspicious but clinging to hope.

“For you?” Bobby smiles, genuine and crooked and thrilling. “That easy.”

Junhoe smiles back. “Thanks.”

Bobby slings an arm over Junhoe’s shoulder, and Junhoe leans into it.

“I’m never letting you live down that little speech you gave, but you’re welcome anyway,” Bobby says.

Junhoe sighs. “I would expect nothing less.”

\- - -

They’re not soulmates in the traditional sense.

Junhoe doesn’t have Bobby’s name written on his arm, and Bobby certainly doesn’t have Junhoe’s. They aren’t the sweet, loving couple like perfect match Yunhyeong and Donghyuk. They aren’t even a best friend pair.

But weirdly, both of them feel that bond that soulmates describe having. They can finish each others’ sentences, they have an innate feeling of where the other is located, they know one another better than anyone else in the world.

They’re something, for sure. But nobody knows what it is.

\- - -

They’re roughhousing in Jinhwan’s studio apartment, Bobby slamming Junhoe onto the bed one second and Junhoe tickling Bobby mercilessly against the counter the next. Jinhwan is sipping wine with Yunhyeong and Donghyuk on the couch, all of them doing their best to ignore Junhoe and Bobby.

Junhoe presses Bobby more firmly into the counter, grinning at his desperation to get away from Junhoe’s assault against his weak spots.

Bobby’s hands find Junhoe’s shoulders at the same moment Junhoe’s find Bobby’s hips.

Time freezes.

Bobby is blinking rapidly at Junhoe. His fingers flex against those broad shoulders. Their bodies are pressed impossibly close.

Junhoe doesn’t think.

The kiss is brief, though it seems to last hours in the moment. Their mouths are dry against one another and at an awkward angle. Their noses bump together. Bobby makes a surprised sound and Junhoe retreats.

They stare at each other.

“June?” Bobby breathes.

“Yeah.”

“Why’d you stop, asshole?”

And Junhoe has no good answer for that, so he leans back in.

Donghyuk whoops at them from an impossible distance. It doesn’t matter. They’re kissing, finally, and they’ll have plenty of time to be made fun of later.

\- - -

Bobby rolls up his sleeve when they’re drunk on Hanbin’s couch, shows Junhoe the ‘Kim Hanbin’ inked there.

“I know you’re curious,” Bobby says.

Junhoe runs his fingers over the name. He thought it would hurt more. He thought he would be jealous, or maybe insecure. But he’s seen how Bobby is with Hanbin, and he knows how it’s different from the Bobby that he himself gets to see.

“Are you in love with him?” he asks, just to be sure.

Bobby shakes his head. “Not him.”

It makes Junhoe smile. He brings Bobby’s arm up, kisses the name that will never be his own. He rolls Bobby’s sleeve back down.

“Then it doesn’t matter. You’re mine,” Junhoe says. “He can’t have you.”

Bobby laughs softly. He takes hold of Junhoe’s hand. “Never took you for possessive. But, yeah. I’m yours.”

Junhoe squeezes his hand. “Good. Set up the couch?”

Later, they’ll have their own bed. But for now, it’s a good enough start to sleep where it all began.


End file.
